Monday, January 27, 2020

Hi All,

It's a five-day week... but a full one!

This week, students participating in the Science Fair are bringing in their projects. Bring the projects and all displays/ notebooks to school on Wednesday to set up in the cafeteria. Judges will meet with kids to discuss their projects (upper grades). There is a parent Science Fair Open House on Thursday night, and then classes will go see the projects on Friday.

On Friday, Third Graders from our class will be heading off on a field trip to the SC Museum of Natural History. At this point, I am still missing 6 student permission slips, and may need one more driver. Fourth Graders will remain at Rio with a sub in the morning. We will all have a chance to see the science fair in the afternoon.

This Wednesday's Spirit Day is Pajama Day!

I am sending home permission slips for the next field trip, scheduled for February 21st at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Both grades are attending, and I am looking for parent drivers/chaperons. This trip includes lab time, as well as time to eat lunch and wander the aquarium. Please contact me if you are able to support the class in this way.

Finally, Scholastic Book orders went home last week. If you wish to submit an order, do so digitally, using our class code H6KT4, or you may do it the "old school" way, by sending in an order with name and payment. Make checks out to Scholastic, or send cash please. I will be submitting the order on Friday, as I get bonus points for doing it by the 31st!

Have a great week,

Carroll Mayer





Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Hi All,

I hope you enjoyed your weekend.  I'm not sure how we'll cope with next Monday, as we are completely out of practice!

The new Reading and Writing Units are underway. The kids very much enjoyed finding and beginning mystery novels. As an introduction to Opinion Writing, the class looked over some student examples from other years, and we also had a "debate" about whether sweet treats should be allowed in schools for parties.

In math, both grades are working hard on multiplication and division. Third Graders are building their fluency with math facts in these areas, while Fourth Graders are applying their knowledge of the facts to bigger and more complex problems. Both grades are "warming up" with 100 Second Math, which is a practice sheet that lists the products of factors 3-9, with the student naming the factors. So for example, a student sees 24, and names 4 x 6 and 3 x 8.  This is a great way to practice multiplication/division facts, and also comes in handy as they move toward fractions and look for ways to simplify them. 100 Second Multiplication

I have sent home the permission slip for the Museum of Natural History. This is a Third Grade field trip. Fourth Graders will remain at school with a sub for the morning. I am in need of 3-5 drivers/chaperons.  Please contact me if you are a Third Grade parent, have volunteer clearance, and are able to drive.

Have a great week!

Carroll Mayer

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Dear All,

Welcome back!

First of all, a huge thank you to our Room Parents, Jena and Grace. Once again, they designed an active and fun party, with the emphasis on games and crafts. Thank you so much for a great time! In addition, huge appreciation goes out to the many parents that came out and ran games, directed crafts, and or donated materials/ finances to the party. Finally, thanks to you all for my "Gift of Cozy". I love the blanket, mug and Bookshop Santa Cruz gift card, and I have used them all--already!

This week the class is starting new units in both reading and writing; hopefully your kid will come home and tell you about them with enthusiasm. Our Reading unit will be a Mystery Unit. We'll be exploring the genre, as well as reflecting on big ideas in literature such as theme and character development. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is our Read Aloud/mentor text, but every child will also be selecting and reading their own mystery books during the 3-4 weeks of the unit. In writing, the kids will be working on opinion pieces, after we have read some examples and practiced expressing our opinions in some "mini" debates.

I'll be sending home permission slips for 2 upcoming field trips in the next week or two. One field trip--Museum of Natural History-- is for 3rd grade alone, and the other to the Monterey Bay Aquarium is for the entire class. If you would like to drive on either, or both, please update your driver info in the office and let me know of your interest.


  • Museum trip (3rd Grade)-- Friday, January 31, 2020 from 8:30-11:30
  • Aquarium (3rd/4th Grade)--Friday, February 21, 2020 from 8-1:30

I'm looking forward to a spectacular second half year with this great class!

Carroll Mayer